Abstract
A thermally-assisted piercing (TAP) process has been investigated as an alternative to current methods of machining holes in thermoplastic composites. The spike force/displacement responses during piercing were affected by both the processing temperature and the size of the heated area, as were the resultant microstructure and subsequent mechanical performance. Overall, the results suggest that for advanced manufacturing of thermoplastic composites, good tensile and compressive open-hole properties are produced in the TAP process when using small heated areas and higher temperatures.